At some point today, Apple will make its iOS 7 software update available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners to download.

It's one of the biggest updates to iOS for some time, and developers have been working hard to update their apps accordingly since the software was revealed at Apple's WWDC event in June.

Those updates are going live in a steady flow today too, and for many the changes will those in Foursquare's breezy blog post about its update for iOS 7 : "We've fancied up the icon, updated the UI, and made it all work flawlessly in Apple's new iOS."

Is there more to iOS 7 than what Foursquare describes as a "fresh coat of paint" though? The Guardian canvassed several developers to find out what they think the biggest implications of the new software will be, and as well as assessing how it will affect the ongoing battle between iOS and Android.

Cutting the clutter

Expect a lot of fancied-up icons and lots of neon on the App Store by tonight, but is there more to iOS 7 from a design standpoint? One theme is coming through strongly: its encouragement to remove clutter and unnecessary textures.

"The new iOS encourages the focus away from embellishments of user interface elements that we've seen in the past, such as paper textures and other realistic effects that mimic reality," says Tom Censani, product design manager at ticketing service Eventbrite.

"Instead it puts the focus on content, letting the audience use the app as it was naturally intended." Eventbrite has accordingly "removed distractions" so its users can focus on the tickets they've bought, and discovering new events.

A number of developers suggested that this isn't just a case of Apple leading and app design following: but rather Apple responding to trends already making their presence felt on both iOS and Android.

"The design philosophy hinges on displaying the richness of content without trimmings to distract the user," says Anil Nair, director of mobile at ESPN EMEA, of that company's iOS app.

"It should be noted, however, that this was not done for Apple's OS. Rather is a case of our design work and the ideas behind the app being in line with their principles: it is minimalistic and fluid in design with the content being the hero."

There's some under-reported excitement about the likely impact of iOS 7's UIKit Dynamics features, using behaviours such as attachment, collision, gravity, push and snap to the physics of app interfaces.

"We've taken the new Dynamics APIs, and re-worked all the interactions in Clear to use them," says Nik Fletcher of Realmac Software, which has redesigned its to-do list app for the new software's launch.

"It may sound like a small thing, but it makes check off tasks even more satisfying, and makes Clear more cohesive with the OS with extra depth and subtle parallax."

Cesani agrees that animations will become an increasingly important focus for user-interface design on iOS, suggesting it's "the next big feature everyone will want to concentrate more effort on in the future".

"Now that Apple has encouraged less focus on the UI, developers can concentrate on the flow of their app and that's where animations can really shine and delight users," he adds.

Out-of-the-way interfaces

Many of the changes may not be obvious to people using apps, at least not at first. And that's because they'll focus on interface elements getting out of the way, rather than grandly announcing their presence.

Sushmita Subramanian, lead mobile designer at brain-training games firm Lumosity, cites iOS 7's new transparent status bar as a good example of that.

"Instead of being a stark, distinguished object at the top of every screen that feels like a disruption from the main content of the app, the status bar will now subtly exist at the top of apps," she says, suggesting that app developers will take their cues from design touches such as this.

"We anticipate that the iOS 7 focus on clarity and deference will encourage app developers to simplify their designs and reduce visual clutter to create a cleaner, better user experience," says Subramanian.

"Developers may also take more inspiration from the use of cinematic motion in iOS7 – we may end up seeing a lot more movement used to communicate with users in a more engaging way."

Expect a brighter, lighter experience from many apps too. Music discovery startup Soundwave provided this comparison image showing pre and post shots of its iOS 7 update that shows the kind of changes you can expect:

Soundwave before and after its iOS 7 update

In the background

Something iOS 7 users may notice more quickly is the use of background refresh: the ability for apps to download new content in the background without – according to Apple, at least – draining the device's battery.

In theory, this means no more opening up an app and then having to wait a few seconds while it refreshes its content. Several developers suggest that iOS users will quickly expect this from all their apps, increasing the pressure on developers to support the feature.

"The new background APIs mean that whenever a user comes to open your app, it should be showing much more recent information/data than before," says Fletcher. "This sense of continuity is really going to improve the iOS experience."

Eventbrite's senior mobile engineer Ravi Rani says the feature is a boon for commerce apps. "The background app refresh allows us to push a user's ticket to their device in real time. So, whenever they open the app, the content is fresh and ready," he says.

London events app YPlan is following a similar strategy. "We've already implemented background updates. They allow our app to always have a fresh list of events when customers open it up, so there's no more need to wait staring at a 'Refreshing…' box," says chief technology officer Viktoras Jucikas. "That's a massive improvement in customer experience."

Developers are also thinking about social and sharing with some new features under iOS 7. AirDrop, for example, will see apps able to swap data with those on the devices of nearby users. Event information and tickets in Eventbrite's case.

"We think AirDrop has a lot of potential because of its simplicity and ease of use," says Rani. ESPN is thinking about other forms of social sharing too, according to Nair.

"Social sharing of content is something we have been bullish on across digital products for some time. The new iOS 7 more tightly integrates social sharing, something that we also see in the Android OS," he says.

Kids category is alright

For parents and children's apps developers alike, one of the most significant new features in iOS 7 is actually part of the App Store: its new Kids category.

It's expected to launch today alongside the new software, and will gather and promote apps for three age categories: Five and under, 6-8 and 9-11, with Apple requiring apps to have clear privacy policies, no behavioural advertising and parental gate features for in-app purchases or outbound web-links.

Children's apps developers are excited about the new category. "Hopefully our apps – which are currently split across several categories of the store – will be easier to find both serendipitously, for people who are browsing, and deliberately, for parents who've set out to find them," says Tom Bonnick, digital project and marketing manager at publisher Nosy Crow.

"There'll be a more nuanced set of age bands, as well, which we expect to be particularly helpful for those in the education sector looking to introduce apps to the classroom."

Bonnick says that the new category will also provide a dedicated space for children's app promotions, which "often struggle for space in the main part of the App Store", and points to the new rules on in-app features as positive for parents and developers alike.

"The fact that apps that are featured in the Kids' App section will have to include a 'gating mechanism' to prevent inadvertent in app purchasing will, I hope, improve general consumer confidence in kids' apps, and confer a sort of 'safety guarantee' on those that are listed in the new category," he says.

The App Store's new Kids category

Blazing iBeacons

Looking further ahead, a number of developers are enthusiastic about the potential for iBeacons, another feature that wasn't given a huge amount of attention when iOS 7 was first announced, but whose potential is gathering more comment now.

The feature uses Bluetooth Low Energy technology to deliver notifications and content to iOS devices based on a more-accurate reading of their location, including indoors.

"The ability to use Bluetooth 4 Low Energy on your device to discover iBeacons allows hyper-local information to be shown in-app - for example, if you're in front of a museum exhibit an iBeacon at the exhibit would switch the museum app to information about it," says Realmac's Fletcher.

"Devices being able to understand where you are on a more intelligent level (eg inside a particular shop, at a train station) – is very exciting. It opens a whole new range of intelligent apps and services," adds Richard Zito, principal software engineer at publisher Touch Press.

Eventbrite is already thinking about iBeacons' potential for live events. "It will allow us to present/push more targeted notifications to attendees and allows seamless checking in to events," says Rani.

At the iPhone 5s launch event, Apple focused on games as the key app category to benefit from this: Infinity Blade III is the showcase title at launch, and was released today ahead of the new handset's debut.

It's not just about games, though. US firm Smule makes music apps, and its chief executive Jeff Smith says there is just as much benefit for his company.

"Smule has never been the friend of the CPU or your battery. We typically run 30 frames/second of graphics in Open GL, have several audio processes running in parallel (for example to convert your speech into rap!), and then have all application and network logic," he says.

"iOS 7 with the 5S gives us (and others) the opportunity to begin to approach mobile as we would desktop computing in terms of performance. And so, for example, for the first time we can do real-time audio processing that even a decade ago was only possible on a premium workstation."

Automatic updates

One last iOS 7 feature that's giving developers something to think about is its automatic downloads feature: the ability for users to hit a switch to automatically download updates of their apps as soon as they become available, rather than have to manually trigger them from within the App Store app.

For developers, this should mean more confidence that new features will roll out to their users quickly, although that will bring its own challenges.

"Automatic app updates is a big one I think, because 100% of your customers will have your update. It's great, but developers should be much more careful with updates, because one small bug can ruin everyone's experience," says Denys Zhadanov, marketing manager for productivity apps developer Readdle.

"From a communication perspective, it now requires an extra effort to deliver the message 'what's new' to your audience, since they won't read it on the App Store any more."

A separate issue is how the big changes in iOS 7 make developers think about support for older versions of Apple's software.

"With iOS 7 we'll be looking to drop iOS 5 support, which means we'll be able to migrate to constraint based layout, collection views and add support for state restoration. That makes things so much easier to maintain.

Platform battles

The thing that most fascinates me about iOS 7 is how it will affect app developers' strategies for Android. Google's platform has been evolving its own design language and specific features, with clear guidelines.

A great iOS 7 app may look quite different to a great Android app – and it remains to be seen whether that gap will widen under the next "KitKat" version of Android – even if some of the guiding principles are similar.

Some differences will be functional, such as the addition of homescreen widgets for Android. Most developers are relishing the challenge of producing good work on both platforms, rather than grumbling about their differences.

"In the past few years, Android has also arrived at a design language that focuses on usability and delight, while still allowing strong customisation and personalisation," says Lumosity's Subramanian.

"It's an exciting time to be in mobile – especially as a designer – with both platforms constantly evolving and rapidly incorporating cutting-edge design languages."

Censani suggests that iOS 7 has "put a little more heat on Android", while Fletcher hails Apple for its willingness to "disrupt and reimagine their own OS than let a competitor beat them to it".

Smule's Smith warns that there will be challenges as well as opportunities for app developers trying to make the most of iOS, even though he's very enthusiastic about the potential rewards if they succeed.

"iOS 7 is a fork in the road. It separates iOS from Android, but also iOS 7 from all previous generations of the operating system," says Smule's Smith.

"Apple has always focused on user experience for their hardware and products. iOS 7 redefines the user experience on mobile. In many ways, it will be the most difficult OS to embrace by developers in terms of both scope and nuance as a result."